a nuclear armed state to do -- or as the case may be, not do -- anything?

This is the underlying problem with the United States' policy wrt Israel, with the Israeli imprisonment of the Palestinians something of a side show.

Whenever you think of Israel as an American client state, think again. Exactly who is the client of whom is subject to futher discussion, always, when it comes to Israel.

What Israel does (or doesn't do) with its millions of Palestinian prisoners is of some -- but limited -- concern in DC and other major capitals of the world, but I believe it is widely accepted that the Palestinians are prisoners, subject to control of Authority (all of which is in Israeli hands) whether or not Palestinan "homelands" -- open air prisons, which some call ghettos -- are presently under Israeli military occupation. The notion of Palestinian "independence" is an utter fiction, as is the notion of "two states living side by side."

The State of Israel, so long as it has nuclear armaments and is funded for the rest of its armaments by the United States, will be regionally dominant, no matter the barrage of rockets coming from Arab lands around it. Yes, of course, any sane people would cease resisting such a superpower in their midst, they would realize there is no point, resistance is futile, all that, and the fact that the Palestinians and other Arabs in the region continue to resist is a sign of their absence of sanity. Well. Who's going to give a state to crazy people? Can't be done. They're lucky they get food, water, fuel, and electricty from their benevolent masters, and they should be grateful. Are they? Of course not. So they must be punished until they become grateful and cease resistance. Or they're all dead or gone.

Which will take as long as it takes.

Many Israelis understand this state of affairs full well, and they want something different. Soon. They understand the shame that Israel faces in the eyes of the peoples of the world every single day. They can understand what motivates Palestinians to continue to resist. Some Israelis have actually... been there, and done that.

But the United States cannot and will not direct the Israeli government to engage in productive negotiations with the Palestinian and Arab side, nor is it likely the current government of Israel, or really any subsequent government relying on the institutions of Israeli governance, will engage in productive negotiations. The United States is in no position to order a solution, either.

As for the Palestinians, they really have no power in the situation at all. Occasionally, they can cause mischief, but not much more. Israel can, at any moment, exterminate the lot of them. Not that they would ever do such a thing. Perish the thought.

So even if the sane Israelis can somehow gain a majority in the government on the promise of productive engagement to resolve the generations-long struggle with their blood enemies, there's little chance they would be able to turn the institutions of that government toward peaceful resolution.

And yet, as the South Africa example shows, it is possible, under certain circumstances, for a nuclear armed state to yield, to transform, to become something else altogether. Some Israelis know it can be done -- they participated in what was done in South Africa, both the repression and the resolution. They know it can happen, they know what it takes.

They dread the application of the South African solution to Israel. And so long as American interest is purely hegemonic in the Middle East, so long can Israelis delay...

Whenever you think of Israel as an American client state, think again. Exactly who is the client of whom is subject to futher discussion, always, when it comes to Israel.

It's become more of a symbiotic relationship.

Che... State of Israel, so long as it has nuclear armaments and is funded for the rest of its armaments by the United States, will be regionally dominant, no matter the barrage of rockets coming from Arab lands around it.

None of the 3 Abrahamic, monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity or Islam are immune to this kind of bigotry or eliminationist rhetoric.

Calif. Capitol chaplain says religious tolerance offends God

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

(02-27) 15:08 PST SACRAMENTO, (AP) --

An evangelical chaplain who leads Bible studies for California lawmakers says God is disgusted with a rival fellowship group that includes people of all faiths.

"Although they are pleasant men in their personal demeanor, their group is more than disgusting to our Lord and Savior," Drollinger wrote on the Capitol Ministries' Web site.

The comments drew immediate fire from others in the capital, including the Republican lawmaker who sponsors Drollinger's Bible study group.

Drollinger said "progressive religious tolerance" is an offense against God and causes harm to its practitioners.

He said the other Bible study group was perpetrating a "deadly lie" by presenting Jesus as "a good moral teacher who loves everyone without distinction."

Assembly Republican leader Mike Villines, who sponsors Drollinger's Bible study group, said the differing approach between the two groups should not be a cause of conflict between them.

"I was very, very uncomfortable with the comments, and I don't agree with them," Villines, a Republican from the Fresno area community of Clovis, told The Associated Press.

Sen. Darrell Steinberg, a Sacramento Democrat who will serve as Senate president pro tem next year, said he found Drollinger's statements intolerant and troubling.

"I think it's important that those of us who find those comments offensive speak loud and clear about it," said Steinberg, who is Jewish.

Steinberg acknowledged that Drollinger has a right to free speech. But he said the minister should be more respectful toward differing views within the Capitol.

"There's just no place in civil society for intolerance of someone's different beliefs," Steinberg said. "It's the beauty of this country, that people have the right to practice their own faith."

Drollinger has held Capitol Bible study for more than a decade. He is not paid by the state, but Capitol Ministries pays him $120,000 a year to minister to politicians across the country.